As the LS2 only has a single serial port which is used by the AVR, it is necessary to enable the serial console. This is done by jumpering the pins of J2 and disabling the watchbog timer on startup (by pressing the red button and powereing it up). It is easiest to install J2 on the back of the board as it will be accessible by removing the cover and not the board from the chassis I used a red jumper so it can be easily located. Another option to removing the cover is to drill a 3/8: hole in the case directly above J2 and make a handle for your jumper from a piece of tape.

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As the LS2 only has a single serial port which is used by the AVR, it is necessary to enable the serial console. This is done by jumpering the pins of J2 and disabling the watchbog timer on startup (by pressing the red button and powereing it up). It is easiest to install J2 on the back of the board as it will be accessible by removing the cover and not the board from the chassis I used a red jumper so it can be easily located. Another option to removing the cover is to drill a 3/8" hole in the case directly above J2 and make a handle for your jumper from a piece of tape.

== Using the Serial Console ==

== Using the Serial Console ==

Revision as of 20:15, 20 October 2006

Originally by frontalot and nix from linkstationwiki.org. LS2 specific details by Kuroguy

The console is the text output device for system administration messages. These messages come from the kernel, from the init system and from the system logger. On modern small computers the console is usually the computer's attached monitor and keyboard. The LinkStation, however, doesn't have monitor output; instead, it uses a serial connection for console output. Not only does the serial console provide valuable debugging output, it also allows root access!

Attach Header to the Board

J1 Pinout

Pin

Signal

1

Transmit (TX)

2

Receive (RX)

3

Power (3.3V)*

4

Ground (GND)

Enable Full Serial Tx/Rx

To enable write support across the serial port, simply bridge R186.

The Serial Converter

Buy One

The serial port signals from the processor are only 3.3V. For proper RS-232 12V signaling, an RS-232 level shifter needs to be added. These are very common in PDA serial cables also, but can be purchased from
SuperDroid Robots (#MCU-026-172) or CompSys (#A232DBH3v).

Enabling the Serial Console

As the LS2 only has a single serial port which is used by the AVR, it is necessary to enable the serial console. This is done by jumpering the pins of J2 and disabling the watchbog timer on startup (by pressing the red button and powereing it up). It is easiest to install J2 on the back of the board as it will be accessible by removing the cover and not the board from the chassis I used a red jumper so it can be easily located. Another option to removing the cover is to drill a 3/8" hole in the case directly above J2 and make a handle for your jumper from a piece of tape.

Using the Serial Console

You may access the serial console using Windows HyperTerminal (included with Windows) or TeraTerm Pro.